Daunomycin, also known as daunorubicin leukaemomycin C, rubidomycin and Cerubidin, is an antibiotic of the rhodomycin group that is isolated from fermentation of Streptomyces peucetias. The total synthesis of the molecule has also been reported. Acton et al., J. Med. Chem., 17:659 (1974).
The daunomycin molecule is composed of two parts. The first part, a tetracyclic aglycone, is referred to as daunomycinone, and is glycosidically linked to the second part, an amino sugar, that is referred to as daunosamine (3-amino-2,3,6-trideoxy-L-lyxohexose).
Daunomycin is usually used clinically in acute leukemias and less frequently for other cancers. For example, daunomycin is particularly effective in inducing remission in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, and is a widely used drug for treating adults with nonlymphocytic leukemias. Daunomycin is also used in treating children having solid tumors and for treating lymphomas. Daunomycin has been found to intercalate into DNA, with resulting impairment of DNA and RNA syntheses. Double- and single-strand breaks in DNA have been noted as a result of treatment with daunomycin.
As with many chemotherapeutic agents, daunomycin kills normal cells as well as cancerous cells. It would therefore be beneficial if a daunomycin derivative could be found that exhibited a cytotoxicity against cancerous cells that was similar to daunomycin itself, but that exhibited a reduced cytotoxicity against normal, non-cancerous (non-transformed) cells.